The Way Back To The Tower
by Leo Dane
Summary: Eventually they find thier way back to the Tower. To the team, to the family. A short drabble. Disclaimer inside.


**Disclaimer: Avengers and all its characters are property of Marvel movies.**

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Eventually, they all found their way back to each other.

After Loki was taken away to be punished on Asgard, the Avengers had gone their seperate ways. Thor had gone with Loki to keep his brother in check. Natasha and Clint returned to SHIELD. Steve drove off on his motorcycle. Bruce wandered, and Tony went to work on fixing up the Tower, which had been ignored in the weeks long operation to clean up Manhatten.

Tony noticed the only surviving letter of his neon sign that formerly read Stark was an "A". Tony added "vengers" to the end of it.

Bruce was the first to come back. Only a few days after Loki's capture, Tony tracked Bruce to a hotel a couple blocks away, and easily convinced him that living with Tony in Avengers Tower, with a roof over his head, a strong supply of coffee, and access to one of the best labs in the world, was a much better alternative to Bruce's self-imposed exile he almost returned to. It was an easy thing for Bruce to do, because he and Tony already had become close working in SHIELD's lab together.

Three weeks after Bruce moved into the Tower, he and Tony changed from sleeping in seperate bedrooms to sleeping in the same.

A month and a half later, lightning shot across the sky and Thor appeared in the middle of the Tower's living room in all his Asgardian glory. He happily reunited with "the man of Iron" and "son of Banner", and regaled them with the story of Loki's punishment. After that, Thor set himself up in one of the spare bedrooms. Tony and Bruce didn't object.

Thor had claimed the Earth as his home, and eagerly accepted the others as his housemates.

A few weeks after that, Bruce had entered the kitchen one morning and found Natasha making a bowl of cereal in a nightgown, and Clint sitting on the counter drinking coffee, kindly supplied by JARVIS, in his boxers.

Clint said he and Natasha were stationed there by SHIELD as an immediate source of contact should the Avengers be needed. Then he said that Tony had a nicer ventilation system to climb around than his room at the SHIELD base. Natasha said she was there because none of them would survive without her. Clint agreed. Then Tony had come running in yelling about how someone had switched his and Bruce's stuff into a different room (including a sleeping Tony!), and replaced their old room with bows and knives.

The master assassins had claimed Avengers Tower as their playground, and their teammates their playmates.

Steve was last to return to the Tower. He spent months riding on the motorcycle, searching for his purpose in this world exactly the same as his old time, yet so different. First thing out of the ice he had saved the world. Steve felt lost. Everyone he knew was gone, and he was alone in a world he didn't understand.

When Steve finally appeared in the living room, Thor had gripped him in a welcoming hug that nearly broke the super-soldier's back, and the other four followed.

Steve had found a place where he could live again, and that place was with the Avengers.

Thor was the first one to refer to the team as a family, and even though they laughed, they didn't disagree with that statement. Clint and Natasha made a comment about how close of a family they were, with Tony in Bruce's lap, and Natasha in Clint's, and Steve and Thor's hands suspiciously close.

Now, it had been almost a year since defeating Loki. Tony was swearing up and down that very soon something big was going to go down and the Avengers would be in for one hell of a fight. The others reluctantly agreed - no way the Earth would be so peaceful much longer. Still, it was a nice break.

That's why the six Avengers were relaxing on the balcony of the Tower, looking up at the night sky. The city sounded oddly quiet from the top of the Tower. The stars were brighter here too.

Tony and Bruce were being smartasses and naming every single star that had names in the sky while they layed wrapped up in eachother's arms. The rest they made up names for.

Clint and Natasha were arguing over just how the mysterious Budapest Incident went, but with good natured grins and laughs. Natasha was nestled on Clint's chest, the archer's hands wrapped around her and holding her close.

Steve was silent. He preferred to just take in the cool air, the nice sky, the comforting voices of his teammates, and the strange feeling of contentment and safety he felt sitting against Thor, hands clasped.

Eventually, they found their way back to each other.

Then, a giant robot started smashing up the city, and the Avengers kicked major ass.


End file.
